Background and Description:
The Boris P. Stoicheff Memorial Scholarship was established in 2011 by the CAP Foundation (CAPF) and OSA Foundation (OSAF) (now Optica) as a memorial to Boris P. Stoicheff, an eminent, internationally renowned laser spectroscopist who also served as President of the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) and the Optical Society of America (OSA).
The Scholarship is awarded to a CAP Graduate Student Member who has demonstrated both research excellence and significant service to the optics (Optica) or physics (CAP) community. The scholarship is awarded jointly by the CAPF and the Optica Foundation, with the administration and presentation of the scholarship rotating between the two societies. The first scholarship was presented in 2012 by the CAPF.
Although the CAP’s nomination system currently has an English-only interface, nominations may be submitted in either English or French. The CAP is committed to ensuring that applications submitted in either official language are treated equitably. Furthermore, the CAP commits to ensuring that those evaluating awards will have a thorough understanding of the impact of bias to take it into account while reviewing nominations.
The application must be submitted using the CAP’s online application process accessed by logging into Member Services https://cap.ca or https://crm.cap.ca and selecting “Medal/Scholarship System” under “CAP Services”.
Any questions about the scholarship should be directed to programs@cap.ca.
Scholarship Amount:
A $3,000 scholarship is awarded annually in the currency of the awarding society.
All applicants must:
- Be a student member in good standing of the awarding society (even years: CAP; odd years: Optica).
- Be an accepted, registered or enrolled full time graduate student studying astronomy, electrical engineering, medical physics, optics, photonics, or physics (in Optica’s awarding year chemistry will be added to the criteria). (NOTE – the applicant cannot have already submitted their thesis; i.e. started the process for defence of thesis)
- Have at least one publication in a peer-reviewed journal that is recognized by the awarding society (NOTE – the applicant does not need to be listed as the lead author) OR have made at least one conference presentation at a scientific meeting recognized by the awarding society (see CAP list below).
- **not applicable for the CAP scholarship years** — Have an accepted submission, in the year of the award, at the annual meeting of the awarding society (
even years: CAP Annual Congress; odd years: Optica Annual Meeting). - Demonstrate community service, which may include but is not limited to: leadership in a student association or other student organization at the undergraduate or graduate level.
Application Materials Required for Submission:
- **not applicable for the CAP scholarship years** — Copy of the abstract or paper submitted to the awarding society’s annual meeting (
even years: abstract submitted to the CAP Annual Congress;odd years: accepted paper submitted to the Optica Annual Meeting). - Description of community service activities (written by applicant).
- Statement explaining area of research (written by applicant).
- Curriculum Vitae (CV).
- Citation for one publication in a peer-reviewed journal (see eligibility statement above) OR the name/date and abstract related to a conference presentation at a scientific meeting recognized by the awarding society (see CAP list below).
- NOTE: The application system is currently being updated to include an area to submit this information; if you submit your application before this is available, please include the information in the comments box and e-mail the pdf of your conference abstract to programs@cap.ca for uploading on your behalf.
- Latest university transcripts.
- Two letters of recommendation. At least one of the letters should be from the applicant’s supervisor and should include a statement confirming the applicant’s status as an accepted, registered or enrolled full time graduate student, the applicant’s anticipated date of defence, as well as a brief description of the applicant’s research program. At least one reference should speak to the applicant’s academic performance. Both references should comment on the applicant’s potential for leadership and/or for making a significant contribution to optics or a related field. NOTE: Letters of recommendation should be sent directly to the CAP Program Manager (programs@cap.ca).
Selection Criteria:
This is a merit based scholarship. Applicants will be judged on following criteria:
- Quality of scholarship documentation written by applicant
- Quality of the accepted submission to awarding society’s annual meeting
- Academic/research performance
- Community service to the optics or physics community
Application/Selection Process:
- Applications are solicited and collected by the awarding society, and are only valid for the scholarship competition year for which they are submitted.
- A selection committee of 3-5 members established by the awarding society reviews all eligible applications and selects the winner. The committee should include a representative from the non-awarding society, who will serve as the Chair of the selection committee in the next year.
- The scholarship is presented to the winner during the annual meeting of the awarding society (even years: CAP Annual Congress; odd years: Optica Annual Meeting) should the recipient be in attendance; otherwise it will be shipped to them. Winners will receive a joint CAPF/Optica certificate and a scholarship cheque or EFT transfer of funds issued by the awarding society in the currency of that society.
Application Deadline:
The awarding society will set the deadlines based on the timing of their annual meeting.
Council-approved Canadian professional science societies
The following are the eligible societies at which an applicant’s presentation may have been made to apply for the CAP’s Stoicheff scholarship :
- Canadian Association of Physicists
- Canadian Astronomical Society
- Canadian Biophysical Society
- Canadian Geophysical Union
- Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society
- Canadian Organization for Medical Physicists
- Canadian Society for Chemistry